Int'l Crisis Group calls for reforming Pakistan’s prison system

ISLAMABAD/BRUSSELS: Reforming Pakistan’s corrupt and dysfunctional prison system is central to curbing rising crime and militancy, fixing a deteriorating criminal justice system and enforcing the rule of law, says a report titled ‘Reforming Pakistan’s Prison System’ by the International Crisis Group.

It is part of a series of reports on a deteriorating criminal justice sector that fails to prevent or prosecute crime and protects the powerful while victimizing the underprivileged. Heavily overpopulated, understaffed and poorly managed, prisons have become a fertile breeding ground for criminality and militancy, with prisoners more likely to return to crime than to abandon it.

“Policymakers should acknowledge that what happens within prisons is not isolated from what happens outside”, says Samina Ahmed, Crisis Group’s South Asia Project Director. “The treatment and conditions of prisoners is a key yardstick for the state’s willingness to uphold the rule of law, improve access to justice and protect citizens, a test Pakistan has thus far failed”.

The federal and provincial governments should take steps to reduce overcrowding by enforcing existing bail laws, reforming the sentencing structure for non-violent petty crimes and establishing functional probation and parole regimes aimed at rehabilitating and reintegrating released prisoners into society. Separating hardened criminals, including militants, from juveniles, minor and first-time offenders and remand prisoners is vital. The National Assembly should also review and reform the outdated Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Evidence Act that regulate Pakistan’s criminal justice system and have failed to address the current challenges to law and order.

While the current government has taken some steps to improve justice delivery, fixing a broken system will require substantial human, financial and political capital. “Major reforms are necessary to restore public confidence in the government's ability to enforce the rule of law while protecting the rights of all citizens”, says Robert Templer, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “If Pakistan’s prison system remains brutal, opaque and overcrowded, it will continue to aggravate rather than help resolve the country’s major internal security challenges”. (PPI)